


don't for a minute change the place you're in

by actualflower



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: (but it really just makes it even fluffier), A Small Dash Of Angst, Ambiguously Gendered Hawke, Cuddling, Fluff, Multi, Serious Amounts Of Fluff, alcohol mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-05 06:54:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3110264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actualflower/pseuds/actualflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fill for a request I got on my Tumblr:</p><p>"anonymous asked: hey, since you're familiar with DA2, could i request something about how each of the companions cuddle? whichever ones are fine, but i'd really like aveline and merril. i could really use some fluff. thank you!! <3"</p><p>If there is one thing that can be said of Amaryss Hawke, it is that they definitely had a propensity for dragging a new person to their bed every night, but only ever for the most innocent of purposes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	don't for a minute change the place you're in

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically 1,000 words of self-indulgent cuddling fic. Everyone likes cuddling fic, right? It's probably OOC in some parts, but the cuddles are worth it, in my opinion. Hope you like it, anon!
> 
> Title from Stop This Train by John Mayer.

If there is one thing that can be said of Amaryss Hawke, it is that they definitely had a propensity for dragging a new person to their bed every night, but only ever for the most innocent of purposes. Sure, Kirkwall and its nobility spun their tales of the infamous Hawke child’s escapades, but no one dare challenge the Champion up-front. Plus, it was so much easier to sleep at night when you had a warm body nestled close to your own. Eventually, though, their rotation of warm bodies was singled down to only seven.

Aveline cuddles like you would expect: she presses her full body against Hawke, curling around them with warmth and protectiveness. She drapes a single quilt over them both, wraps her arms around Hawke’s middle, presses her face into the curve of their neck, and breathes deeply until they both sleep soundlessly into the night. She’s as warm as a personal heater and always wakes first, grumbling at the sun for interrupting a night of peaceful, dreamless sleep. On the nights where the Fade sings deep in her mind, she clings to Hawke like a lifeline with the faintest whisper of “Wesley” on her lips. Hawke will wrap her in their arms, and venture into the Fade to defend her from any demons that dare disturb her.

Merrill cuddles like a vine, entwining her legs and arms with Hawke’s and pressing her head to their chest to listen to their heartbeat. She piles blankets on top of Hawke, proclaiming that “with such an affinity for fire as you have, Hawke, I still can’t believe how cold you get at night.” She squirms in her sleep, consistently finding a way to kick off the abundance of quilts and sheets she snuggles under. She always wakes up just as the sun rises, never failing to press a single kiss to Hawke’s temple and thanking them for letting her sleep with them. Hawke always laughs until Merrill catches on to the unintentional double entendre, and then she laughs, too.

Isabela will only ever cuddle when she’s either a) exceedingly drunk or b) exceedingly exhausted. She sprawls like a starfish across Hawke’s large bed, monopolizing precious leg and arm space and snores like, what else, a drunken sailor. Hawke will often find them snoozing in the estate for an afternoon nap; they usually just pull up the covers and fit themselves next to her snoring form, their head resting on an outstretched arm and their arms wrapped around her waist. When they wake, Isabela inexplicably finds herself curled around Hawke. She always wakes up first, sneaking out of the bed with a silent kiss to the top of Hawke’s head and a note that thanks them for “a fantastic night under the sheets, Hawke. <3”.

Anders is as skittish as a cat when Hawke pulls him into their bed. he’s painfully cautious and awkward, standing by the bed with a helpless expression, and Hawke takes pity on him. They grab him by the arm, gently guiding him to the bed and showing him where to put his arms and “Anders, I swear, you are stiff as a board and if you don’t relax I will shove you off this bed, so help me Andraste”. Gradually, he relaxes into the bed and into Hawke, resting his chin on top of Hawke’s head and sighing pleasantly. He sleeps fitfully, and Hawke does their level best to protect their dreams in the Fade because Maker knows how much actual sleep that man gets with Justice running around in his head.

On one particularly memorable (and drunken) occasion, Hawke stumbles into Varric’s bed in the Hanged Man, sleeping the sleep of the thoroughly smashed. They wake in the middle of the night with a pounding headache and see Varric snoozing in a chair next to the fire and announce to the room, “Varric, if you don’t get your dwarfy ass into this bed and cuddle the shit out of me in the next five seconds, I will throw Bianca into the fireplace”. He wakes with a start at the mention of Bianca and fireplaces, and glares at Hawke with the fury of a man scorned. Hawke glares right back. After a beat, Varric trudges over to the bed, shrugs off his jacket, toes off his boots, and throws himself under Hawke’s waiting and open arms. (“Always knew you were a little spoon, Mr. Chest Hair.” “Shut up and sleep, you drunken bastard.”) Hawke rests their chin on his head and he grumbles something about “see the next time I tell a story about you, Hawke”. Isabela stumbles upon the scene the next morning and immediately gathers the rest of their little entourage to see the “newest couple in Kirkwall”. She arranges them all next to the bed and gently taps Hawke on the nose, saying in her best Leandra impression, “C’mon, dear, it’s time to wake up!” Mere seconds after, every single one of them except Varric and Hawke burst out of the room, all of them looking slightly charred around the edges. After that, Hawke and Varric’s drunken cuddle sessions become frequent, with the both of them talking about his latest sordid story making the rounds.

It took Hawke weeks of careful planning and even more careful suggestion to get Fenris into their bed. At first, he his hesitant, almost nervous, but Hawke wraps themself around Fenris, and he curls around them in return, pressing them tight to his own body and tucking his face into their shoulder. He lays completely still in his sleep, with only the barest of grimaces marking a dream as a nightmare. He is warm, but not hot, and he prefers to sleep without blankets. He murmurs often, soft bits of Tevene that slip out of his mind, and Hawke listens to him with rapt fascination before they, too, fall asleep.

Very. very rarely, when the nightmares bleed into the waking world and the demons are too much to bear alone, Hawke will slip into their mother’s room with a polite knock at the door and a quiet “Come in, dear.” They’ll collapse onto the plush sheets and lay their head on Leandra’s lap while she strokes their hair and starts talking about nothing and everything, commenting on the markets and “Oh, dear, did I tell you about that one dress I saw in the shops? Oh, it was beautiful. That reminds me, if you ever see fit to go to one of the noble’s parties you’re always invited to, we need to get you fitted for some proper formal wear.” Hawke always nods off to the feeling of their mother’s hands gently sifting through their hair and the warmth of the love suffusing the air.

The night after Leandra's kidnapping and failed rescue, Isabela appears at Hawke’s estate with the rest of their little misfit crew and they all curl around Hawke together, filling up their bed and covering them with warmth and condolences. They all fit together, somehow; Hawke in the middle, Merrill on Hawke’s left and snuggled close, Isabela on Hawke’s right and her head on their shoulder, Varric draped across the three’s laps, Fenris with Merrill’s head on his chest and Hawke’s head on his stomach, Anders curled around Isabela, and Aveline curled around Merrill. Hawke breathes deep and fights back the tears they know are coming. They all talk about nothing and everything, about Kirkwall and all the places each of them has seen, about the stories they share and the stories yet to come, and, as they burn the midnight candle to a stump and Orana comes to replace it and they invite her in, too, because what’s one more misfit to this party, Hawke feels at peace. If only for a night, if only for a moment, Hawke feels at peace.

**Author's Note:**

> "See once in a while when it's good  
> It'll feel like it should  
> And they're all still around  
> And you're still safe and sound  
> And you don't miss a thing  
> 'til you cry when you're driving away in the dark."  
> - _Stop This Train_ by John Mayer


End file.
